Jesse Rodriguez: Why did the unified super flyweight champion get into boxing?

Looking at Jesse Rodriguez's resume, it would be very difficult to say he's not one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in all of boxing. 

"Bam" is 22-0 with 15 knockouts, is a two-division world champion, beat the brakes off of super flyweight legends Juan Francisco Estrada and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and is the current unified super flyweight champion.

Rodriguez looks to continue his ascent towards boxing history on Saturday at The Ring IV: Night of the Champions, when he puts his WBC and WBO titles at stake against WBA titlist Fernando Martinez in a unification clash from ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, live and exclusive on DAZN PPV. 

As Rodriguez continues his journey towards immortality, it raises the question: Why did the 25-year-old get into boxing? Because initially, the thought of getting blasted in the head and body for a living never entered his thought process.n 

"I never even thought about boxing," Rodriguez admitted to DAZN. "Never cared for it."

But one person close to Rodriguez changed his mind process.

"My brother was always a big fan of it," Rodriguez said. "Oscar De La Hoya. Fights like those. I had always wanted to try it, but my mom never let him. Then one day, she finally let up and said, 'All right, you're going to try it. I don't know where you're going to take it, but go ahead'. 

"So he went for like two weeks. Then on that third week, I was like, 'F—, maybe I do want to try this. 

"Then I went to the gym that first day and just stuck with it."

Watch Benavidez vs. Yarde live only on DAZN

David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde headlines a star-studded Ring IV fight card in Riyadh on Saturday, November 22. Watch it exclusively on DAZN PPV.

For more information, pricing, and to buy, click here.